Sunday, 31 October 2010

In the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, there is the geat little town of Dungog. Apart from the beautiful buildings from the late 1800s and the very tidy cottages that make up this picturesque Hunter Valley getaway, it is also the home to the Dungog Film Festival. It takes place over four days and some of the proceeds go towards preserving the James Theatre. It is held annually and is open to Australian filmmakers only. The festival is a non-competitive, four-day cultural event that showcasts exclusively the Australian movies from the past, present and future. The types of films showcased at the Dungog festival include feature films, short films, television pilots, short documentaries, feature documentaries, music videos and In The Raw script submission for television series, miniseries and feature films scripts. This theatre was first opened by James Stuart in 1913. Originally an open air theatre, it was roofed by 1914. In order to accommodate "talkie" movies and to provide a dance facility, Stuart commissioned major reconstruction works that commenced in 1930. It is the oldest purpose-built cinema still operating in Australia.

In the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, there is the geat little town of Dungog. Apart from the beautiful buildings from the late 1800s and the very tidy cottages that make up this picturesque Hunter Valley getaway, it is also the home to the Dungog Film Festival. It takes place over four days. It is held annually and is open to Australian filmmakers only. The festival is a non-competitive, four-day cultural event that showcasts exclusively the Australian movies from the past, present and future.

The former CBC [Commercial Banking Company of Sydney] Bank, it is now the National Australia Bank.

Monday, 18 October 2010

This is my first attempt at a Panoramic Merge using Photoshop Elements 8. It has turned out pretty good I think! I discovered though, that in order to tweak levels and apply a burn tool that it has to be done in each of the individual layers. Each tweak has to be exactly the same so that the end product does not appear disjointed. Cant wait til my next Panoramic project!!

It was an overcast day on Friday - perfect for some black and white! I now always shoot in RAW format and, even if I want a B&W outcome, I still shoot in colour. I find that gives me more options when developing the final product.

I had an idea for this scene as I took it. As soon as I saw how it had turned out, I knew it would look great in black and white with the infra red filter applied. A little burn work on the clouds and the sinister look was complete. What are they doing behind the security fence??

This was one of a set of 5 exposures that I had intended to use for a HDR. However, it was blowing a gale and there was just the slightest of camera movement between each shot which ruined any idea of a merge into HDR. I adjusted the midtone highlights in this one and really liked the outcome.

This place on the banks of the Hunter River at Stockton appeared to be a dump for solid waste. Old bricks, pavers, broken up concrete, roof tiles......you name it and it was here. Provided a nice texture and colour for the photo though! Wide angle Lens.

A beautiful example of turn of the century architecture in Newcastle. With a circular driveway up to the front door and palm trees highlighted with spotlights it looks magnificent of a night! This was taken using a Wide Angle lens and is a HDR of 5 shots.

One of the places favoured by many local photographers is the Ocean Baths at Merewether! The place is lit up by strong lights and with the still water in front and the sea waves rolling in at the back it certainly makes for some great photos! I don't usually use any special effects in Photoshop as such. I tried this one to see how it would turn out and I really liked it!

One of the places favoured by many local photographers is the Ocean Baths at Merewether! The place is lit up by strong lights and with the still water in front and the sea waves rolling in at the back it certainly makes for some great photos!

One of the places favoured by many local photographers is the Ocean Baths at Merewether! The place is lit up by strong lights and with the still water in front and the sea waves rolling in at the back it certainly makes for some great photos!